Baked Goods @ Aroma Cafe

Messieur Almond Croissant, Herr Apple Struedl and Señor Alfajores. These three international pastries of intrigue can be found behind a glass case at Aroma cafe on Houston Street, New York City.


I completely overlooked the baked goods at Aroma. It's probably because I find the cafeteria-like environment to be a little too demanding of customers: long lines, red-plastic trays and uniformed employees barking names and receipt numbers into microphones. I understand that breaking down the order process in this way allows more people to be served more quickly, but I don't enjoy the procedural stress and anonymity that goes with it. To my surprise, however, in spite of the impersonal, fast-food environment, the pastries at Aroma have a fresh, rustic goodness to them.

Let's start with the apple strudel. Unlike traditional strudels, Aroma's strudel is wrapped in filo dough, giving it the flakiness of a 700-year-old book. But my are those crumbly pages tasty! Baked within this highly frangible pastry is a hearty apple and cinnamon flavor that doesn't rely on butter for flavor—not that there’s anything wrong with that. After looking up the word strudel in the dictionary, l learned that it is the German word for “whirlpool” or "vortex”—a reference to the way the pastry dough is rolled up. Well, this little strudel is more than a vortex of apple, dough and cinnamon, it's the perfect storm.

Next on the plate, Aroma's almond croissant. This was my first almond croissant ever. Are they all this good? Crusty on the outside, fluffy on the inside, with a moist, custardy center. Delicious! If only I were a mouse, then I could gorge on a torn-off croissant corner while doing the backstroke in a giant cup of tea.

On to the alfajores. This ever so delicate and sticky little sandwich cookie is—and this must be said with total Oprahesque enthusiasm—senSAAAAAYtionalll!!!! Behold, a closer look:




An alfajores is composed of two corn starch cookies with dulce de leite sandwiched in the middle, lightly rolled in shredded coconut. Cookies made from corn starch have an ultra-fine consistency that literally melts in your mouth. This cookie is so soft and fragile, you have to treat it with great care; think of it as the cookie equivalent of kissing a baby. What an incredible discovery, sheer joy!


Photos by Katherine Lee

Brrp-brrrr!

Welcome to Various Comestibles, a blog on everyday food encounters, recipes and food-related topics for the curious epicure.

Good food is a wonderful thing. From green leafy salads to thick, rich chowders, food gives us so much to savor, so much to share. Call me naive, but in a world full of puddings and petit fours, who needs crack?

The name of this blog comes from a passage I came across in an art history book that referenced Alice in Wonderland, specifically, Alice's encounters with "various comestibles". Comestible, meaning, any article of food. The phrase resonated with a part of myself that has always delighted in life as a great big wonderland of food. I can't say I've ever had a magic mushroom, but I have had mushrooms that tasted like magic. And so, with visions of farfalle, fruit tarts and farmer's markets dancing in my head, a food blog was born.

So, here it is gentle reader,Various Comestibles, an online chronicle of foods—and drinks—that I have encountered and, like Alice, have had a heightened reaction to. Although, in my case, the reaction is purely emotional.